03-15-2010, 01:49 PM
I do not work for the DNR, but do have some thoughts on this.
Strawberry was poisoned in one of the largest and most expensive reclamation projects and the hatchery built on the Strawberry river for the expressed purpose of raising the Cutthroat trout. At the time the cutthroat were being considered for inclusion on the endangered or species of concern list in the state of UT by the federalies. Inclusion of the cutts on these lists could have meant that fishing for them in UT would have been stopped and a possible closure of the waters that contain cutts to all fishing. The UT DWR wisely decided that by committing the entire Strawberry complex and hatchery to ensuring that the cutthroat trout would not become "of concern" would allow fishing for them statewide to continue.
This is how Stawberry has been managed ever since. By having such a dedicated program and such a large water the cutts will always be available to fish state wide.
The chubs were actually supposed to be wiped out completely by the poison, but netting in the years following the application showed that some had survived. It was then decided that slot limits would be placed on the cutts to insure that adequate numbers would always be in the reservoir to control the chub population.
I think and this is just my opinion, that introducing a species, sterile or not that would feed on the chubs would have an impact on the food available for the cutts and that is why the department continues to only stock sterile rainbow trout and kokenee salmon. The rainbows so that fishers have something to keep and take home and the kokes because they were originally intended to be feed for the cutts but have since imprinted on the hatchery and return there every fall to spawn no matter what providing stock for other places in the state.
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Strawberry was poisoned in one of the largest and most expensive reclamation projects and the hatchery built on the Strawberry river for the expressed purpose of raising the Cutthroat trout. At the time the cutthroat were being considered for inclusion on the endangered or species of concern list in the state of UT by the federalies. Inclusion of the cutts on these lists could have meant that fishing for them in UT would have been stopped and a possible closure of the waters that contain cutts to all fishing. The UT DWR wisely decided that by committing the entire Strawberry complex and hatchery to ensuring that the cutthroat trout would not become "of concern" would allow fishing for them statewide to continue.
This is how Stawberry has been managed ever since. By having such a dedicated program and such a large water the cutts will always be available to fish state wide.
The chubs were actually supposed to be wiped out completely by the poison, but netting in the years following the application showed that some had survived. It was then decided that slot limits would be placed on the cutts to insure that adequate numbers would always be in the reservoir to control the chub population.
I think and this is just my opinion, that introducing a species, sterile or not that would feed on the chubs would have an impact on the food available for the cutts and that is why the department continues to only stock sterile rainbow trout and kokenee salmon. The rainbows so that fishers have something to keep and take home and the kokes because they were originally intended to be feed for the cutts but have since imprinted on the hatchery and return there every fall to spawn no matter what providing stock for other places in the state.
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